Packers-Seahawks final play controversy

The Seahawks defeated the Packers on Monday Night Football, 14-12, but the game will be remembered for its controversial ending in which a replacement referee awarded a touchdown on a last-ditch pass play on the game's final play. It appeared Packers defensive back M.D. Jennings intercepted the ball, but instead the ruling was in favor of Seahawks receiver Golden Tate making a touchdown catch. Scroll through the gallery to see more scenes of the final play.
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AP

Lance Easley was the official who made the call for a touchdown. The play was reviewed, but the ruling on the field was upheld. Referee Wayne Elliott said after the game that the play was ruled as simultaneous possession that was confirmed by the replay official.
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Getty Images

The Seahawks' Golden Tate (81) also appeared to be guilty of pass interference when he pushed a Packers player out of the way before leaping in a bid to make the catch.
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AP

One official (left) signaled touchdown while the other signaled for the clock to stop as the players came to rest on the ground in the end zone.
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REUTERS

Packers defensive back M.D. Jennings (right) said he had the ball. "It was pinned to my chest the whole time," Jennings said.
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AP

"I make sure I practice on high balls and catching balls at the highest point. Thankfully I came down with it," Tate said. "I was just trying to keep possession of the ball. The guy who was fighting me for it, he’s strong. I was just trying to hold onto it until our guys pulled them off of me. I didn’t know if they called touchdown, interception, incompletion. I didn’t know what was going on. Couldn’t hear anything and I just tried to keep fighting for the ball."
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REUTERS

"Both players have possession, it goes to the offense," referee Wayne Elliott said via a pool report after the game.
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Getty Images

Many believe the play could go a long way in helping to end the NFL's labor dispute with its regular referees. "It'll have a lot to do with it," Packers defensive back Charles Woodson said.
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AP

"Don’t ask me a question about the officials," Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy (right) said. "I've never seen anything like that in all my years in football. I know it’s been a wild weekend in the NFL and I guess we’re part of it now."
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According to the Seattle Times, , Jennings said he thought about batting the ball away, but then said "at the last minute I saw Charles (Woodson) and Sam (Shields) go up for it. I could see it going through their hands, so I just tried to go ahead and get it and make the play.""/>

AP

<a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/seahawks/2019252505_seahawkssidebar25.html" target="_blank">According to the Seattle Times, </a>, Jennings said he thought about batting the ball away, but then said "at the last minute I saw Charles (Woodson) and Sam (Shields) go up for it. I could see it going through their hands, so I just tried to go ahead and get it and make the play."
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REUTERS

"For our fans and everybody, I know you can't ask for more than winning on the last play of the game on Monday Night Football when all else looks like it's dead and gone. So I'm excited for everybody to enjoy it. I still don't really know. I still don't feel that it happened. It didn't sink in. I even saw the hands go up and all that stuff," said Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.
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AP

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers wasn't happy with the outcome. "Just look at the replay. And the fact that it was reviewed... It was awful. That's all I'm going to say about it," he said.
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